Museum of Art curator selected for Smithsonian program

Springfield Museum of Art Curator Erin Shapiro was selected as one of 10 people from across the country to participate in a program at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Photo by Bob Bingenheimer/Contributed

Springfield Museum of Art Curator Erin Shapiro was selected as one of 10 people from across the country to participate in a program at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Photo by Bob Bingenheimer/Contributed

Springfield Museum of Art Curator Erin Shapiro has been selected to participate in a prestigious program sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution.

Shapiro was one of 10 people chosen from more than 200 Smithsonian affiliate organizations nationwide for the Fall 2018 Smithsonian Affiliations Visiting Professionals Program in Washington, D.C.

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The two-week program, which begins on Oct. 29, will instruct participants on how to digitize their museums’ art collections. The Springfield Museum of Art has more than 2,000 works in its permanent collection.

“It’s a mark of recognition for Erin, the Museum and Springfield,” said Museum of Art Executive Director Ann Fortescue.

Shapiro has worked for the Museum of Art for two years and been the curator for a year. Upon completion of the course she will have the framework to build a digitization plan.

By digitizing, it will allow wider access to the Museum’s collection online, a lot of which hasn’t seen by the public. More educational and research opportunities will result, letting people learn before or after they visit.

“This is a great experience for me, personally, and for the Museum of Art,” said Shapiro. “I’m looking forward to meeting other professionals and having the opportunity to learn the software and digital tools for outreach.”

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Fortescue said having affiliation brings the resources offered by the Smithsonian, the world’s largest museum, education and research complex, to communities across America.

Museums can be loaned objects and qualify for programs and opportunities such as the one Shapiro is participating in.

“For us, it’s another big piece in our access campaign to make the Museum as accessible as possible to the community and its variety of works by American and Ohio artists,” Fortescue said.

For more information on the Springfield Museum of Art, go to www.springfieldart.net.

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